Lunar Smile
by whitesakura
Summary: Young Athrun arrives to the moon, to new challenges, and a new chapter in his life. Amidst the wasteland full of uncertainty and pain, Athrun discovers his first "lunar smile".


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or its characters.

Warnings: Other than artistic license? None really, but knowing some shounen-ai fangirls… ::smile::

Notes: Although I've only watched a few episodes, the push to do this story didn't go away until I actually spent time and typed it out. The "moon preparatory school" scenario just has so many possibilities, and it continues to intrigue me. I hope you enjoy this fic. I hope it makes you wonder just a little, too.

* * *

Lunar Smile

"Class, this is Athrun Zala. He just moved here to the moon."

Sensei, scented in an artificial synthesis of expensive lunar flower perfume, nudged him forward with a gentle hand and a smile. Athrun smiled back before he turned to face the class. The boys were dressed in no-nonsense blue uniforms and although the girls were robed in blouses and skirts, they too were clothed in a somber blue. Athrun's smile faltered as he glanced over his own attire. Instead of a tie, a bow graced his neck. Instead of blue, pastels and various shades of green covered his body. Athrun nervously shifted the beret on his head as the scrutinizing looks were replaced by shared, meaningful glances and suspicious murmurs. They looked like a small army, sitting behind their desks in perfect rows. For some reason, the starkness in their gazes reminded Athrun of the white countertops beneath their elbows, reminded him of the world beyond this colony, of the pristine wasteland that was the majority of the moon. It had looked so bright and welcoming when the shuttle his family had traveled in had first taken off. Athrun had been disappointed when he finally arrived and gray sands flowed through his fingers instead of pearls.

Sensei nudged him.

Athrun blinked and took a deep breath. "Hello, its nice to meet all of you." Athrun bowed in the silence and the little hat on his head slid off with a funny "Ker-plop!" Rainbows bloomed on the faces of Athrun's classmates and suddenly their previously immobile and wary forms were all motion and color.

"Athrun can sit by us!" One boy suddenly shouted amidst the laughter. He had a good-natured face and pudgy cheeks that made him look perpetually jovial.

"No, he can sit by us!" A girl with pigtails leapt up, waving her hand madly. Dozens of children jumped up then, welcoming him with smiles and pleas to sit by them, but there was one little boy with milk chocolate hair in the back who said nothing. The boy glanced up at all the commotion, and looked around with undisturbed eyes.

His _eyes_.

Athrun couldn't breathe for a moment. "You!" Athrun shouted with an intensity that one would expect to be coupled with venom. The students in the path of Athrun's accusing finger looked at each other perplexedly but the boy that Athrun wanted a response from did nothing but look back down at his desk. Athrun had been ignored. Slowly, he put his hand back down, feeling hurt.

"Athrun, let's put you in the middle somewhere. Is that alright? I would put you up front since you've come into school a semester late, but we have quite a few students with glasses."

Athrun didn't wear glasses. He would never need them.

"It's fine, Sensei." Athrun smiled and she led him through the living sea of curious and eager faces and bodies that waved and grinned at him as he swam by. He sat down between two girls who prodded him with questions. Where was he from? Was that what all children wore for school where he lived? How old was he? When was his birthday?

Squeal. "The same month as me!"

And of course, the ever important inquiry as to what his favorite color was, which was red of course.

"Quiet down class. It's time for lessons. I want everyone to open their workbooks and turn to page 154. Do lessons A to D. I'll be walking around to see if anyone needs help."

Dutifully, Athrun pulled out the workbook from the backpack his parents had purchased for him just yesterday. He took out a few pencils and a bunny-shaped eraser that quickly got the attention of one of his neighbors. He cheerfully agreed to exchange it for a more conservative-looking one. They sealed the deal with a grown up handshake, although the girl wanted a kiss. Athrun managed to scribble a few answers when the boy behind him poked at his shoulder until he turned around. They conferred quietly for a moment and agreed to switch pencils. They cemented the deal with grins and a few boyish nudges that were completely different from sensei's nudges. Satisfied and feeling strangely content, Athrun bent down to resume his work.

For ten minutes, there was nothing but young voices whispering to themselves, scratches on paper, and Sensei's voice calming the frustration of students struggling valiantly to learn. One of them appeared to be the boy in the back.

Athrun's hand shot up. Sensei came over.

"Having trouble, Athrun? The curriculum's probably different where you are from. It's harder here on the moon than most places, so don't feel bad if you - "

"But I'm finished, Sensei."

"Oh?" Sensei's smile was indulgent, but she picked up the notebook and looked over it carefully. With each passing second her eyes grew wider and wider. "Marvelous, Athrun! You've gotten everything right! And so quickly, too!"

Athrun's cheeks flushed red in pleasure, and he turned to all the nearby inquiring eyes with an apology. "We already learned this stuff in my old school."

Sensei circled a few advanced exercises. She needed to assess how far along he was. "Here Athrun, why don't you try these? Just do the ones you've already learned. We will go over the ones you haven't learned later."

Fifteen minutes later, Athrun's hand shot up again. The whisperings began.

"Why Athrun, you must have gone to an excellent preparatory school. I'll have to give you some other work," Sensei murmured. She tucked Athrun's notebook under one arm and walked to her desk. Athrun watched the little star sticker by the right corner and his name in marker across the front disappear forever as the notebook was dropped into a file drawer. The cabinet was shut. Sensei opened another one and pulled out a massive new workbook that was hardcover. There were fewer diagrams on this one. It was an exercise book for third-graders. She handed it to Athrun without circling anything. "Here, Athrun. I want you to do as much as you can."

An hour later he was finished. And now the whispers weren't just indiscernible whispers. They were saying words. Hurtful words. One of those words ran in a continuous loop. Sensei flipped through his answers and took him outside into the hall. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Athrun, when your parents come to pick you up, tell them to meet me at the principal's office. You can go outside in the yard and play until school ends."

"But Sensei - "

"Go outside." She nudged him through the exit and towards the playground. It wasn't a gentle nudge. The door closed behind him, and Athrun was alone.

Athrun was an obedient boy, so he did what Sensei asked; he played. He slid down the slides a few times. He raked his hands through the sandbox. He took a drink from the water fountain. He ran across the shaky chain bridge, and jumped up and down. He hung upside down on the monkey bars until his head was pounding and his face was as red as a tomato. But somehow it wasn't fun. Finally, he picked up his beret that had gotten dusty in the dirt, and moved to sit beneath the shade of a large tree to wait out the remaining hours. A little bird alighted on the branch above him. It had green plumage, a yellow cheerful face, and was singing a happy song. He wasn't really alone. The bird sang and twittered. But Athrun still felt lonely inside.

When Mother found him under the tree she scolded him and rubbed the dirt out of his hair. It seemed he hadn't managed to clean his hat that well before putting it on. Father held out a hand and he ran to it and felt it clasp around his smaller one, strong and reassuringly. He told them about Sensei's strange request, and explained that the work was too easy for him. They listened with attentive eyes, although his mother began to brush through his hair when he told them about having to stay in the yard for most of the day. Athrun didn't really understand why she did it. It was a move she usually did to comfort him when he had a stomachache or a fever, or was hurting somewhere. All Sensei did was give him free time. Athrun should be happy that he had gotten out of work.

Mother took Athrun's other hand, and together they all walked at a steady pace towards the administration offices. Athrun had to stay outside on the leather couch, but he could peer through the door when his parents went into the principal's office. The principal was already talking excitedly with Sensei inside; Father ruffed his hair before joining Mother and the other adults. Most children shouldn't have been able to make out anything said behind the closed door, but Athrun's keen hearing managed to pick up parts of the discussion.

"It's…Unnatural child in the class!" That was Sensei. Athrun wilted. He had forgiven the other children for calling him "unnatural" in their whispers. It was a dirty word for people like Athrun. Mother and Father had explained it. Athrun had thought a grown up like Sensei would know better than to use it.

"This school…not suitable." That was the principal. He sounded cold. Last time he saw Athrun he had given him a lollypop. Cherry. It was his favorite.

"We…Athrun…make friends…own age." That was mother. She sounded like she had the day before Christmas when they had run through the malls searching for last minute presents.

"Discourages others…the class." Sensei again.

Athrun tried to make himself smaller in his seat.

"Surely…can't learn more…in second grade." Principal.

Athrun wanted to disappear.

"Tutor him…home…extra lessons…no problem." Father was speaking so calmly. After that there were some more arguments, then confidential murmurs, but Athrun purposely turned a death ear towards them. A few minutes later, Father and Mother walked out. They took his hands again and led him out of the school and towards home. Along the way, he asked Father if he'd buy him some ice cream. They always used to buy him treats on the walk home where they lived before. Father smiled with hollow eyes and said he had no money. Athrun turned to his mother. She carried a large purse that was always filled with things like lipstick, band-aids, combs, and cough drops. Mother was always prepared. But Mother only smiled sadly and said she had no money either. Her bag was oddly empty, too. Athrun thought something was wrong. But he didn't ask. He didn't want to make Mother cry.

Maybe, on the moon, people just didn't eat ice cream.

* * *

The next day at school, Athrun arrived with a freshly washed beret and an eager smile. Sensei told him his seat had been moved, all the way to the back. Athrun blinked. But he nodded and he sat where he was told, besides the chocolate-haired boy with the _eyes_. Athrun smiled and tried to say hello to his new neighbor, but Sensei scolded and lessons began. When Sensei began to discuss deciduous forests, Athrun looked up from his workbook. Math was easy for him. All you had to do was understand a few concepts quickly, and you could combine them in thousands of ways to do almost any problem in the world. But, science, sheer knowledge - like the fact that the sun was a star, that a flower was colorful in order to attract bees and butterflies, that gravity could be manipulated and created by rotation - Athrun had to memorize and understand like any other person would, even if his naturally curious personality made absorbing information and maintaining it a joy. 

Sensei caught him looking and scolded him a second time.

Athrun bent back to his boring books and wrote when a paper ball suddenly showed up where question sixteen had been. Athrun was stupefied. He stared at the projectile for a moment before his hands moved to unfold it. There, written on the paper in the slow, careful curves of a child's hand, were crayon pictures of plants. Each one had a small description next to it. They were notes. Athrun looked around to where it might have come from. The brown-haired boy was writing like everyone else, but the greens in his crayola box were sticking out. So was the yellow. Athrun looked at the sunshine bloom nestled in the center of the crumpled sheet in his hand and smiled.

* * *

When it was recess, Athrun made his way towards the chocolate-haired boy. He was sitting quietly with a group of friends by the jungle gyms. A few of the kids had trouble getting on the bars. Athrun smiled at the boy and then looked to the others. "Do you need help?" They glared at him so frigidly that the rest of Athrun's words died on his tongue, but he could still show them how it was done. Athrun hung upside down and watched the brunette boy's friends. Hands reached out to him. Athrun reached back to help them up. But the hands pulled back. 

The ground hurt.

Then the feet hurt.

Then the fists hurt.

Athrun cried. The chocolate haired boy didn't do anything. The chocolate-haired boy just stood and looked away with sad eyes.

* * *

"We should get him out of there. It was a mistake coming to the moon." Father paced around their living room. Athrun wanted to tell him to stop, Mother always said Father would ruin all their rugs one day, but his chin was held fast. 

"They're just kids, they'll learn." Mother wiped his face, kissed the bump on his forehead and talked softly to him, "Athrun, all you need is patience."

* * *

So Athrun waited. There were many days of waiting, but one day, Athrun was a little late to school. Most of the students had already taken their seats. For some reason, Sensei was still to arrive. Athrun took his chance and marched right up to the chocolate-haired boy's desk and put his palms flat on the tabletop. "My name is Athrun Zala. I am a second generation Coordinator. What is your name?"

The brunette didn't answer. The whispers around them started. Athrun began to hate those whispers as he had never hated anything before.

"My name is Athrun Zala. I am a second generation Coordinator."

The boy didn't answer, but the whispers grew until they were no longer whispers.

"My – " A classmate's rough hand reach out to pull him away. Athrun jerked back, and clung to the tabletop until his knuckles were white. "Name is Athrun Zala! I am a second generation Coordinator! Please, what is your name?!"

"ATHRUN!" A stronger hand ferociously wrenched him from the table and Athrun saw that his teacher had arrived. "How dare you pick on a fellow student?! I should have known, Unnatural!" Sensei growled. The spiteful word was punctuated with a painful slap. Athrun cheek and eyes burned, but he didn't show his tears. He didn't want to show his tears to _them_ ever again. "Class, page 176. Exercise B!" Sensei dragged him towards the front of the class with a smile full of poison and nothing like lunar flowers. As Athrun was hauled forward, the chocolate-haired boy with the _eyes_ behind him scribbled furiously like the others. Just like the others. Until the boy's hand shot up.

"Sensei!"

"What?!"

"I'm done."

"Don't try to trick me. Y-You've been having trouble all week, how can – You, Athrun, out now! Go to the yard!"

* * *

Athrun sat by his tree. The bird with the emerald feathers was above Athrun, singing again. Its tiny foot clutched a real live lunar flower. Perhaps the bird would use it to line the nest it would build. Ten minutes later, the bird flew away and another little boy stepped into the yard. He glanced at Athrun, glanced away, and then ran over to the slide. The boy slid down the slides a few times. He raked his hands through the sandbox. He took a drink from the water fountain. He ran across the shaky chain bridge, and jumped up and down. He hung upside down on the monkey bars until his head was pounding and his face was as red as an apple. Athrun watched the obedient boy carry out Sensei's orders until the other huffed and puffed in exhaustion. For a while, they just stared at each other from their separate spots. 

"Do you want to sit here? There's shade. It's hot out."

The chocolate-haired boy stepped closer warily. Something connected. The boy's face morphed and lost all its harsh suspicious lines. He collapsed by Athrun in the grass with his arms spread out, closed his eyes, and breathed rapidly. He was so close that fudge-colored hairs tickled Athrun's knee. Athrun leaned deeper against the trunk, and let the minutes tick by so the boy could catch his breath. Soon, the other breathed deeply and peacefully. The boy's face was soft and innocent. Athrun spoke.

"I'm Athrun. Who are you?"

A furrow appeared on the forehead above the chocolate-haired boy's closed eyes. His face scrunched up in anger and a bit of shame. "I'm a Coordinator. First generation. My parents are Naturals."

"That's not what I asked."

The other's eyes flew open. Athrun looked down and could see the exotic purple shade in them. The odds of obtaining that eye color were in the billions, but Athrun supposed one could not really notice it if they didn't have enhanced vision. Anyway, the violet was too subtle; to most people the orbs looked cerulean, lovely, but ordinary. He was anything but. They were anything but. They were bound together. Bound in ways Athrun couldn't understand, only feel.

When the last admission came, it came easily, and without burden.

"I'm Kira. Kira Yamato."

Athrun smiled, and for the first time in a long time, a friend smiled back.

* * *

Owari.


End file.
